Israel considers the extension of the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon until mid-May a window of opportunity to reach a "genuine" understanding, Israeli reports said as an Israeli source said Israel plans to return to "intensive fighting and activity" against Hezbollah if no progress is made during this period.

The source added, in remarks to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to use this timeframe to push for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, despite the prevailing skepticism on both sides regarding the feasibility of such a meeting.

President Joseph Aoun has informed Washington that he does not intend to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the beginning of the proposed negotiations, but rather when they conclude, MTV reported.

"This means that if the negotiations succeed, they will culminate in a meeting with Netanyahu under the auspices of U.S. President Donald Trump," MTV said.

There is no rift between Baabda Palace and Ain el-Tineh and a phone call took place yesterday between President Joseph Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, Al-Jadeed TV reported on Wednesday.

The Israeli army is pressuring the political leadership to return to striking Beirut, but U.S. President Donald Trump is not allowing it, according to an Israeli media report.

The Yedioth Ahronoth report emphasized that Lebanon remains tethered to the broader Iranian conflict, which does not serve Israel’s interests.

Lebanese authorities detained the former Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon on corruption charges shortly after he arrived in the country, officials said Wednesday.

The officials said Ashraf Dabbour was arrested upon arrival at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport late Tuesday. The two judicial and two security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A Lebanese army soldier was killed Wednesday along with his brother in an Israeli strike that targeted the motorcycle on which they were traveling from the soldier’s work post to his home in the village of al-Sowaneh, the army said in a statement.

"A soldier and his brother were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted them in the town of Khirbet Selm in Bint Jbeil (district) while they were travelling on a motorbike" heading home, the army statement said.

Ambassador Danny Danon said it’s impossible to talk about peace in Lebanon without mentioning Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah is not just set on Israel’s destruction. It is Lebanon’s greatest obstacle to sovereignty. It has weakened the Lebanese government,” he told a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

A brief statement by the Israeli army said a civilian employee of an engineering company, who was working with the military on projects in southern Lebanon, died in a drone attack.

Despite a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have been intermittently attacking each other in the south, where Israeli soldiers are occupying a slice of territory along the border.

With President Joseph Aoun pushing for direct talks with Israel while Hezbollah rejects them, the country is once again at an impasse after a verbal spat between its leader and the Iran-backed movement.

Lebanon has officially been at war with Israel since 1948, making direct negotiations taboo until recently when two wars between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah exhausted the country.

The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed eight people, including civil defense rescuers, and wounded two soldiers in the country's south, despite an ongoing ceasefire.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, announced it had found and destroyed a large Hezbollah tunnel network used by elite fighters in southern Lebanon.